Integration of three‐dimensional and pressure sensitive palatography for speech production study Free

Tongue‐palate contact patterns during speech production have been measured by electropalatography (EPG). A conventional EPG system produces only a flat contact pattern, and does not provide data for either the three‐dimensional aspect nor tightness of tongue‐palate contact. This paper describes work integrating two recently developed palatography techniques, i.e., three‐dimensional electropalatography (3D‐EPG) [M. Wakumoto and S. Masaki, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 3166(A) (1997)], and pressure sensitive palatography (PSPG) [M. Wakumoto et al., Proceedings of ICSLP98]. The former displays the electrode pattern on a realistic palatal shape, and the latter measures contact pressure by a thin sheet sensor array. The two systems are combined using the following procedures: (1) individual palatal shape and contact patterns in the 3D field during consonant production are acquired by 3D‐EPG, (2) dynamic tongue‐palatal contact pressure during the same consonant production at the same contact area is monitored by PSPG. A preliminary experiment revealed contact pressure differences between voiceless and voiced consonants ([t] > [d]) while the contact area for these consonants were almost identical. This result suggests that the combined method can usefully augment the study of tongue‐palate contact during consonant closures.